Boeing

The Boeing Company today presented a revised contract offer to the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), which represents more than 22,000 engineering and technical employees in the Puget Sound region, Spokane, and Portland, Ore.

In its revised offer, Boeing makes significant concessions on issues identified as unacceptable by the union in the previous contract offer. These concessions include:

• A benefits package that . . .
  • Eliminates the proposed 10% employee contribution for medical coverage
  • Increases the monthly pension benefit from $40 to $50 per month for each year of credited service
  • Retains the pre-65 retiree medical coverage for new hires
  • Retains the current Employee Financial Security plan
• A compensation package that . . .
  • Includes an additional 0.5% per year earmarked for promotions of SPEEA-represented employees
  • Establishes minimum promotion amounts of $2,000 for Technical Employees and $3,000 for Engineers
• A reduction in the length of the contract from 4 to 3 years
• A withdrawal of the company's proposal for non-voluntary weekend schedules that would require an employee to work a Saturday or Sunday or both days as regular days of work.

"Since rejection of the previous contract offer in December last year, we've listened closely to our employees and to the positions articulated by SPEEA leadership," said Geoff Stamper, Boeing director, Union Relations and chief negotiator on the contract talks with SPEEA.

"We believe this revised offer shows good faith movement on the part of the company toward resolving the differences that separate both sides. It achieves our objective to improve the relationship of the engineering and technical employee salaries with the market, and it responds to the benefits position and other related issues of the union," Stamper said.

"It is one of the fairest packages offered to any bargaining unit in the country, and recognizes the value of our engineering and technical employees to the company," he added. "We believe it deserves full consideration by the union and a vote by SPEEA members."